Drilling bit



April 7, 1953 H GRUNER 2,634,105

DRILLING BIT Filed NOV. 25, 1949 2 $HEET$-SHEET l 5 13,] am k H. GRUNER DRILLING BIT April 7, 1953 2 SHEETS-Sl-XEET 2 Filed Nov. 25, 1949 Hans Gruner IN V EN TOR.

Patented Apr. 7, 1 953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE t 253L105 'f DRIIZLING'BIT Hans Gruner, Tonkawa; Okla Application November 25, 1949,'seria1'No. 129331:

nated and an improved cutting actionis obta'ined.

An important object of the inventionisto provid" an improved drilling" bit having thereon a plurality of cutter cones carrying wedge shaped cutting teeth" with" cutting edges; the cutting edges of the teeth upon at leastoneof the cutters engagingithe'formation being drilledat an angle; preferably approximately 90; with respect to the lines of engagement between the formation" and the" cutting" edges of the teeth" of other of" the cutters whereby the-formation being drilled" is'al' ternat'ely 'or' intermittently' 'subjected" to a cutting action cutting teeth disposed at varying angles:

A fu'rth'er object ofthe invention is topro vide an improved drilling" bit ha'ving" a" plurality o'fcuttei-cone's-with cutting teeth-thereon; said teeth havin'gcutting' edges; the cuttin'g'ed'ges of the teeth of" some of thecutter' cones" extending substantially'circumierentiallynf the"path ofrotation' of thebit; while the cutting edges of-the teeth of othehcones extend substantially radially with respect to said" path of rotation; A" construction designed tocarry cut" them vention will be hereinafterdescribed together withiothe'r features ofthe invention.

41 ciaiinss. (01; 255 -41 Th inventionwill be more" readily understood from a'readingfof the following specificationand by" "reference to" the accompanying drawings; wherein an; example of the" invention is shown; and wherein'jz" j Fig: 1 tsep'erspective" viwtakerr hemmeside" of a drilling bit constructedin' accordancewith this invention, and

Fig? 2"is"a v,viewtaken from the bottom or underside of said; bit illustrating the cutting face exposed to the formation being drilled.

In the drawings; the-* numeral III designates a drilling bit having a substantially cylindrical body II with: atapered; screw-threaded pin. l2

extending upwardly therefrom. A plurality of cutter supporting shanks l3" depend frorn the body H and carry spindles (not' shownY upon which a-pliirality of'cutt'errcones M are rot-at'ably noun'tedl The pin I 2' andbody H are provided with the usualwater courses.- l5. for permitting the flow offldi'illing fluiddownwardly onto. the cutter structure. Up to this point, the construction of the bit is entirely conventional, the cutter cones preferably being mounted upon the spindles by meansbfball"bearingsinanyofthe various arrangementscustomary to this art; The invention resides in the" arrangement and re-'- lationship of thecuttingteeth ofthebit'; and sincethe remainder" of" the'bit may beof? any suitable-or"desirable'structure'; a'deta'iled descrip tion thereof" is not necessary; Many types of structures 01" cone bits" are well known" in this particular field and to' thosesk'i11e d'ih this' art; and may be used in connection with the present'invention. Although'the invention may be applied'to any b'it having" two" or more cutters of theconical type,- it is preferably applied to a four conebiti and as a specific embodiment of' the invention; sucha bit'has beenillustrated. The cutter-cones ld aredi'vi'ded into two diametrically-opposed pairs, the cones l5 and" I6 of onepaihcarrying aplurali'ty of cutting-teeth "arranged iha phi-'- rality' of rows l8 extendingcircumferentially'of said cones; The teeth IT-are of "the wedge shaped' variety, common inthis' art"; and carry 'cutting edges- I 9 extending circumferentially*of tl'ierows l 8"and"ofthe comes I 5 and '16. The cutting edges I9 -are thusdisposedsubstantiallyat"right angles' with respect to the axes ofthecone's I5 and' I5 and"ciroumferentially with respect to'thepath of rotation of th'ebit H].

The opposite:- pair or" diametrically oppo'sedcutter cones r 20 and 21 are interposed between and arranged' at right angles with 1 respect 'to the cone'sl Sand I 6. Theeones'. ZO and" 2 1 i also car ycutting teeth- 2-2 having cutting edges 23' and being arranged incircumferentialrowsabout the bodies of "the' cones 211 and 2 l Asshown in the drawings; the cutting'edges 23*ofthe teeth 22 extend transversely of" the rows in which the teethare arranged" and are substantially alined Thecut ting edges 2-3 are thus disposedisubstantially' with" the axes of 'the cones" 20 a'nd 21E It is'tob'einotedthat 'theteethmtin-the'outen two rowsuponthe cutterco'ne Z'U haVe'tIieir'cuttingedges 25' disp'o'sed" at a slight angle; with respect to" thea'xis of the cone 2U? and thus' a-re-not disposed exactly radially with: respect to the path of rotation of the bit-l" They are substan tially so; however; and 'in thecourse of rotation of theblt", they engagethe formation'substa n tiallyat right angles-With respect to the. track left by the cutting edges l 9 of the teeth lflf The" essence" of this invention is" to be found in a bit andconestru'cturehaving cutting teeth which and some of which are disposed circumferentially thereof. In the usual type of bit, all of the cutting teethare similarly arranged, and all of the cutting is normally effected by cutting edges disposed radially of the bottom of the hole. In the present invention, the drilling is accomplished by intermittently or alternately bringing into engagement with the formation teeth disposed both radially and circumferentially of the bottom of the well bore or hole, and a much faster drilling action is obtained.

While it is preferable to alternate the two types of cutting edges as illustrated in the drawings, it is obvious that any suitable or desirable arrangement of the cutting edges may be employed whereby, in the course of one complete revolution of the bit I0,. a given portion of the well bore bottom is subjected to cuttingaction both circumferentially and radially. Nor, as pointed out hereinbefore, must the invention be limited to the use of. fourcutter cones. So long as two ormore cutters are employed, the bottom of the wellbore may be intermittently or alternately subjected to the two types of cutting action in the course of rotation of the bit.

It is further to be noted that the inner rows of teeth on the various cutters do not, pass over they same portion of the well bore, that is, they do not follow in the tracks of teeth upon the precedingcuttersv Of course,- less material must be drilled near the center of the well bore and a smaller number of teeth may be employed for this purpose. It has been found that'this staggering of the rows of teeth with respect to one another and the-intermittent or alternate subjection of theformation-in the center of the bore to radial and circumferential cutting results in a fast and very desirable drilling action,

Since the action of the novel tooth arrangement embodied in this invention is dependent upon intermittent or alternate subjection of the formation to the action of the teeth disposed substantially at right angles, it is obvious that various tooth arrangements may be made. The teeth of one group of cutters may have their cutting edges disposed' at an angle to the axes of the cones carrying such teeth, while the cutting edges upon the other group-of cutters are arranged in the opposite direction, being disposed to strike the tracksof the first set of teeth at an appreciable anglew Thus, the-aim of the invention is carriedout in subjecting a section of the formation to the cutting action of one groupof teeth andsubsequently subjecting that, or an adjacent, section of the formation to cutting by teeth arranged at a substantially different angle. In this manner, cutting of the formationby a number of teeth, all arranged at a similar angle, is avoided. Instead; cuts are made at different, angles and the drilling speed is naturally increased. I

Theforegoing descriptionof the inventionis explanatory thereof and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of-the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

What f claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz l. A drilling bit including, a body, four spindles carried bythe body, conical cutters on the spindles extending substantially to the vertical axis of the bit and adapted to revolve on said spindles, and wedge-shaped teeth on each cutter having cutting edges, the teeth on alternate ones of the cutters having their cutting edges disposed to engage the formation being drilled-substantially at, right angles to the line of formationengagement of the cutting edges of the other two cutters. I "i J '2. A drilling bit including, a body adapted to be rotated in a well bore, a plurality of spindles on the body, conical cutters on the spindles extending substantially to the vertical axis of the bit, each cutter carrying concentric rows of wedge-shaped cutter teeth having chisel-like cutting edges, the cutters being adapted to roll over the formation being drilled as the body is rotated and to bring the cutting edges of the teeth into engagement with said formation, the teeth on alternate ones. of thecutters being disposedto engage the cutting edges of the teeth with the formation substantially at right angles with respect to the lines of engagement between the for.- mation and cutting edges of the teeth on'the other-cutters, and the concentric rows of teeth upon the inner portions of the cutters being staggered between adjacent cutters whereby the inner rowsof teeth of adjacent cutters track in different paths as the bit is rotated over the formation being drilled. f

I 3. A drilling bit including, a body adapted to be rotated in a well bore, four spindles carried by the body, conical cutters on the spindles extending substantially to the vertical axis of the bit and adapted to revolve, on said spindles, each cutter carrying concentric rows of Wedge-shaped cutter teeth having chisel-like cutting edges, the cutters being adapted to roll over the formation being drilled as the body is rotated and tobring the cutting ,edges of the teeth into engagement with said formation, the teeth. on one diametricallyopposed pair of the cutters being disposed to en gage the cutting edges of the teeth with the formation at a predetermined. angle, the teeth ,on the opposite diametrically-opposed, pair of cutters being disposed to engage the cutting edges of the teeth with the formation substantially at right angles with respect to the line of engagement between the formation and g the 5 cutting edges of the teeth of the first named pair of cut ters, and the concentric rows of teeth upon the inner portions of the cutters being staggered between adjacent cutters whereby the inner rows of teeth of adjacent cutters track indifferent paths as the cutters pass over the formation,

4. A drilling bit as set forth in claim 3, wherein the cutting edges of the teeth of one diametrically-opposedpair of cutters engage the forma tion substantially radially of the bit,,and the cutting edges of the teeth of the opposite diametrie cally-opposed pair of. cutters engage the'formation substantially circumferentially of the bit.

I I HANS GRUN ER. REFERENCES-CITED The following references are of recordin the file-of this patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS I Number Name Date 959,540 I Hughes May 31, 1910 1,302,053 Layne Apr. 2 9,.19,1e 2,056,320 Harrington Oct. 6, 1936 2,117,679 I Reed Mayl'l, 1938 2,363,202 scott Nov, 21, 1944 

